Status: 06.01.2024, 18:46 PM
By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi
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Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. © Essdras M. Suarez/ZUMA Wire/dpa
On January 6, 2021, supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the seat of the U.S. Congress. It was an unprecedentedly dark day for U.S. democracy.
Washington D.C. – Immediately after US President Joe Biden's election victory in the 2020 US elections, it started: Supporters of President Donald Trump, who was still in office at the time, as well as the ex-president himself, spoke of "election fraud". Even before the election, there were fears that Trump would not vacate the White House without resistance. No one had expected that his violent followers, most of whom are convinced of right-wing conspiracy theories, would go so far. On January 6, 2021, the seat of the U.S. Congress, the Capitol building in Washington D.C., was stormed by an angry crowd of Trump supporters.
Attack on Capitol: Trump gives delicate speech to supporters
January 6 was the day on which Biden's election victory was to be officially certified by the US Congress. On the same day, Trump supporters planned to gather for a rally not far from the Capitol. Donald Trump himself was supposed to give a speech there. This set off alarm bells in the U.S. capital. Even before the rally, Trump renewed the accusations of election fraud in the short message service X (then Twitter).
In the run-up to his speech, supporters of the far-right Proud Boys group are the first to gather and are already marching to the Capitol building. Just a short time after Trump's speech began, the ex-president called on his supporters to storm Congress. "I know that everyone here is about to march to the Capitol to make their voices heard peacefully and patriotically," Trump said.
While Trump's speech is still ongoing, the crowd in front of the Capitol is getting bigger and bigger. The outnumbered police and other security forces are unable to prevent several Trump supporters from breaking through the barriers and entering the Capitol compound. "Fight for Trump," shouted the attackers with flags and homemade weapons in their hands, as reported by the British broadcaster BBC. A short time later, the certification process began under the leadership of the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
Unbelievable pictures in the Capitol: Security guards draw their guns
Donald Trump ends his speech by saying, "We are fighting. Fight like hell, and if you don't fight like hell, you won't have a country." It almost sounds like a direct incitement to violence. In his final sentence, he again calls on his supporters to march towards the Capitol. There, security forces are now being pelted with metal rods and attacked. Injured police officers are reported by radio, and reinforcements are called. In the meantime, it is clear that an uprising is underway.
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As the attackers smash windows and enter the Capitol building, the alarm is sounded. Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump's supporters call a "traitor," and Nancy Pelosi are evacuated by security forces. The members of Congress hide under the tables while shocking images go around the world. Security guards in suits have locked the doors, drawn their weapons and aim at the door ready to fire in case anyone should get through.
When his supporters are looking for Pence and Pelosi, Trump is not trying to calm the situation. On the contrary, he continues to agitate against Pence on social media and thus continues to cheer on his supporters. Meanwhile, Trump supporters stream through all the doors of Congress and are only a few meters away from the main door of the House of Representatives. Members of Congress are evacuated as the attackers enter the interior of the Senate.
Trump's supporters are causing chaos in the U.S. Congress
In the process, a shot is fired: Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt is among a group of people trying to get through a glass door. On the other side are probably members of Congress. They manage to smash the windows. Suddenly, a single shot from a gun comes from the other side and hits Babbitt. The woman dies of her serious injury.
It was only hours later, after a death, dozens of injuries and the incomprehensibility of the situation in the American capital, that Trump appeared and wrote on Platform X (then Twitter) that the crowd should remain "peaceful". Later, he calls on her to go home and leave the Capitol. He praises his followers as "great patriots." He attributed the violence of his supporters to the fact that the election – which he had actually won – had been "stolen".
According to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice, around 140 police officers were attacked during the uprising. One of the police officers succumbed to his injuries and two others committed suicide. In addition to Ashli Babbitt, who was shot, another person died of a heart attack during the uprising. A third attacker was trampled to death. In total, $1.5 million in damage was inflicted on the Capitol building. But the damage to the image of U.S. democracy was far greater. (bb)